King James Version
Malachi
Malachi in the King James Version (1769), public domain in the United States.
Background and History
The chapters above are the King James text. This essay is the setting of Malachi: who is said to have written it, when and where, what happens in it, and how the text has been copied.
At a Glance
| Author | Malachi, whose name means my messenger. Some scholars take the name as a title rather than a personal name. |
|---|---|
| Date | About 440–430 BC in one survey, after the temple was rebuilt. |
| Place written | Jerusalem, in the Persian province of Yehud. |
| Genre | Prophetic disputation. |
| Chapters | 4 |
| Verses | 55 in the King James Version |
| Key verse | Malachi 3:1Malachi 3:1 · King James VersionBehold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.Malachi 3:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
Who Wrote It
Malachi 1:1Malachi 1:1 · King James VersionThe burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
Malachi 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1) reads the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. Since the name means my messenger, some scholars think it is a title, perhaps drawn from Malachi 3:1Malachi 3:1 · King James VersionBehold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 3:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source. The Talmud says the men of the Great Assembly wrote the Twelve. (2)
Who It Is Not
Ezra, who some later traditions identified with Malachi, is not named in the book.
When and Where
Bible Gateway gives 440–430 BC. (5) The temple is functioning and a governor rules, per Malachi 1:8Malachi 1:8 · King James VersionAnd if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 1:8 · King James VersionOpen the Source.
Audience and Setting
The returned community, grown careless in worship. The purpose is to call them back to covenant faithfulness.
Rulers at the Time
A governor is mentioned in Malachi 1:8Malachi 1:8 · King James VersionAnd if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 1:8 · King James VersionOpen the Source without a name. This page adds none.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| God’s love questioned | Malachi 1 |
| Corrupt priests and broken marriages | Malachi 2 |
| The messenger and the tithe | Malachi 3 |
| The day of the Lord and Elijah | Malachi 4 |
| Composition | 440–430 BC in one survey. (5) |
Places in This Book
| Ancient name | Modern-day location | References |
|---|---|---|
| Jerusalem | The Old City of Jerusalem. | Malachi 2:11Malachi 2:11 · King James VersionJudah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.Malachi 2:11 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
What Is Happening
The book is a series of six disputes in which God makes a claim, the people question it, and God answers, running from Malachi 1 to Malachi 3. Malachi 4 closes with the day of the Lord and Elijah’s coming.
Key Themes
God’s love in Malachi 1:2Malachi 1:2 · King James VersionI have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,
Malachi 1:2 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Faithfulness in marriage in Malachi 2:16Malachi 2:16 · King James VersionFor the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
Malachi 2:16 · King James VersionOpen the Source. The coming messenger in Malachi 3:1Malachi 3:1 · King James VersionBehold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 3:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source.
Apologetics Questions
Malachi’s place as the last book of the Protestant Old Testament leads into the New Testament. In the Hebrew Bible Chronicles comes last.
How the Book Points to Christ
Malachi 3:1Malachi 3:1 · King James VersionBehold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 3:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source says the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, after a messenger prepares the way. Mark 1:2Mark 1:2 · King James VersionAs it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Mark 1:2 · King James VersionOpen the Source applies it to John and Jesus. Malachi 4:5Malachi 4:5 · King James VersionBehold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Malachi 4:5 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1) promises Elijah, and Jesus says John is that Elijah in Matthew 11:14Matthew 11:14 · King James VersionAnd if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
Matthew 11:14 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Jesus is God.
Text and Manuscripts
The Twelve are among the books found at Qumran. (6)
Canon Reception
Received with the Twelve. (4) (3)
Further Reading
References
- Book of Malachi, 1:1; 4:5Malachi 1:1 · King James Version
The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
Malachi 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source. King James Version - Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 15a, 15a (The William Davidson English on Sefaria is copyrighted. This page paraphrases it and does not reprint it. The page continues the list of writers and the debate about it.)
- Against Apion, 1.8Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William Whiston
For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from, and contradicting one another: [as the Greeks have:] but only twenty two books: which contain the records of all the past times: which are justly believed to be divine. And of them five belong to Moses: which contain his laws, and the traditions of the origin of mankind, till his death.
Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William WhistonOpen the Source (Flavius Josephus, Against Apion 1.8, translated by William Whiston. Josephus counts twenty-two books: five of Moses, thirteen of the prophets from Moses to Artaxerxes, and four of hymns and precepts.) - Festal Letter 39, 39.4–5 (Athanasius of Alexandria, AD 367, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 4, on New Advent. The letter lists twenty-two Old Testament books and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, and places Esther among books to be read rather than in the canon.)
- When Was Each Book of the Bible Written?, Malachi (Jacob Edson, Bible Gateway, 16 September 2024. The survey gives Malachi as 440–430 BC. It is one editor’s approximation, not a manuscript date.)
- Dead Sea Scrolls, introduction, Biblical manuscriptsDead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities Authority
Among the Scrolls are partial or complete copies of every book in the Hebrew Bible (except the book of Esther).
Dead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities AuthorityOpen the Source (Israel Antiquities Authority. Biblical manuscripts from the Qumran caves date from the third century BC into the first century AD, and every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther is represented.)
The King James Version (1769) is in the public domain in the United States.